'The incredible new album by Radio 1' ... Jo Whiley. Photograph: Dave Hogan/Getty

Radio 1 will be 40 years young on the September 30, and to celebrate they've decided to unleash upon us (the very next day) a special compilation CD which commemorates four decades of trend-chasing and, on occasion, trying that little bit too hard.

Listening to Radio 1 nowadays - even for those of us old enough to remember the days before Simon Bates and his ilk were given the heave - can be a fraught task. But it's still the zenith of popular music broadcasting in the UK, the place where new bands can gather airplay before even MySpace has heard of them, and the premier outlet for transforming musical guilty pleasures into outright national treasures.

Yet does it have to bark in our ear quite so incessantly about its commitment to "new music" (a phrase that punctuates the station's broadcasts so frequently they might as well try and copyright it)? Given the rather massive hole that the sad passing of John Peel left in the station's credibility, it's nice to see engaging and knowledgeable young presenters like Colin Murray and Rob Da Bank (the tip of a large and high-quality late night specialist schedule) being given relative autonomy.

For every fine song the station breaks first, however, there's the possibility of the ubiquitous slavering monologue by Zane Lowe extolling its virtues, or the distinct chance that Jo Whiley will gush with inevitable gut-churning conviction over the perceived merits of some playlisted guitar-laden cannon fodder. Are we meant to decide what we like, or submit to the implied consensus and help shift some units?

The compilation CD - which takes one song from every year of the station's existence and lets a new artist loose on the cover version - sums up this dichotomy. On the one hand, it includes a few inspired choices by great bands - how can the Streets covering Elton John's Your Song or the Gossip reinventing Careless Whisper not demand your attention? And will Klaxons doing Blackstreet's No Diggity be a travesty or a triumph?

Elsewhere, a few more predictable choices (Franz Ferdinand on Bowie's Sound and Vision, Foo Fighters tackling Band on the Run, Kylie reminding us that Love is the Drug) are no less exciting. Yet the presence of Robbie Williams (Lola), McFly (A Town Called Malice - dear god help us) and - the nadir of boredom here - Razorlight trying out Sting's An Englishman in New York only serve to remind us that Radio 1 has endorsed some crap in its time. What do you think of it?